Del City stuns LHS at buzzer, gets revenge

Del City’s Mishaun Graham got a perfect lob pass and sank a layup as the buzzer sounded to lift the Eagles to a wild 56-54 victory over Lawton High School boys at the Wolverine Gym Tuesday.

It was the same type of wild ending that saw LHS beat Del City in the Eagles Gym earlier this year on a buzzer-beater 3-point goal for a 46-43 win.

The two teams came in with LHS owning an 18-1 overall record and a perfect 8-0 district record while DC came in at 10-6 overall and 6-1 in district. LHS will still lead the district at 8-1 while the Eagles are now 7-1.

The two fast, athletic clubs are now closer to challengers John Marshall which entered this week at 5-2 and Midwest City at 5-3 in district. The LHS loss Tuesday now makes Friday’s road game for the Wolverines at Midwest City an even more important game if LHS hopes to host a 5A regional this season.

The Wolverines got off to a slow start but slowly warmed up and eventually tied the game at 22-all. Both teams enjoyed 7-point leads but that was the only separation the two powers had throughout the game.

LHS seemed in good shape when a Tavarious Deans steal and layup gave LHS a 54-47 cushion with 2:30 remaining in the game.

But in a flash the Wolverines missed converting on a 2-on-1 break after a steal and Del City had a runner escape for an easy layup at the other end. Then another steal and a trey on an inbounds play cut the LHS lead to 54-52 before LHS Coach Chevis Smith could call time with 1:35 remaining.

The Wolverines tried to work the clock and with 33.6 seconds remaining they got a couple of free throws but both missed the mark and when Kaleb Blackwolf got a layup for DC the game was tied with 14.3 seconds remaining.

LHS turned the ball over when Pene Vasiagote and fell and was called for a walk.

It appeared that the game was heading to overtime as the Eagles missed a layup but in the noise, DC Coach Lenny Hatchet had called timeout and the officials added 1.5 seconds. Hatchet drew up a play and his players executed it to perfect as the inbounds lob pass went right to Graham who sanks the layup and start a big celebration by the Eagles.

MacArthur boys got a big road win Tuesday, building a 53-13 halftime lead and coasting to a victory to go to 6-2 in district and stay right behind Carl Albert and El Reno that are 1-2 in the district after the Titans edged the Indians last night, 71-66.

Eisenhower continue its tough season with a 76-32 loss to Norman.

The local girls teams had mixed results but the good news was that MacArthur girls went on the road to beat Noble, 53-48, to help the Lady Highlanders get a big win to go to 5-3 in district move into third in their 5A district.